NOTH WOODS
by Daniel Mason
I was late to the party in reading North Woods by Daniel Mason. Having received a rave review from my friend Jane and positive comments from my husband, something caused me to put off reading it. I hate to admit it, because we all know that “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” but the cover of this book made me think it was going to be a Young Adult kind of book. Ridiculous, I know. But there you have it.
In any case, when I finally took the plunge, I found North Woods to be truly grand in so many ways. Mason writes about various people from the mid-1600s until the present who lived in the same cabin in the woods of western Massachusetts, the book’s fictitious setting. From the initial pair of lovers who flee the Puritan colonies to elope, to a young mother and her child deposited at the cabin by a Native American who had captured them, generations and decades unfold in the course of the book. The cabin, which has many additions and renovations and eventually becomes a lodge, endures and connects each set of its inhabitants. From an ex-military man who strives to cultivate the world’s sweetest apple, to an artist determined to paint nature true-to-life rather than to his patron’s specifications, Mason’s characters and their stories draw you in and compel you to read on.
I’ve reflected on North Woods a lot since I finished reading it and realize it contains several interesting aspects that make it compelling. First, I have never read a book that tells a story over a long period of time through the connection to one house and its inhabitants. Mason writes his characters and stories with real heart. But more than that, Mason’s characters share a common trait – when they choose to live in the house, they free themselves from the constraints of society’s rules and conventions. Each is drawn to the house in the woods by some strong desire to create a better and more meaningful life for themself and their families. Further, they are much more than observers of nature and its ways. They are, or become, one with the natural world. Finally, Mason does a masterful job of conveying the reality that although most of us believe our lives are special and important, compared to a forest of trees or a house that can last for generations, our lives are comparatively short. Better live those lives well. We only get one shot. I highly recommend North Woods. (Liz)
